Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

[Rockstar216]

http://www.aqdi.com/zvc.htm

This is the site and model of what i'm getting two 20' cables and 2 devices. It has a device which lets me control how much capacitance I may or may not want in the signal so i'm not stuck with it if I don't like it or use a different rig. Not the cheapest cables but not the priciest neither.

 

[Kac]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

kool, i hope they work well for you. id prefer to just decent cables and a boost or EQ, but its kinda neat

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Thanks and I hope they do. I'll also be getting a boost pedal in a few days from a trade but still want to see how these cables sound. Ill try to do either a review or demo of some sort. I'm interested to see how they will affect my Wah and fuzz pedal.

 

[Artie]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Wow. I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but this really sounds like snake oil.

And for the first time in the history of the known universe, we have made the cable capacitance variable!

Ummm . . . guitars generally have a tone control. Works the same way.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Wow. I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but this really sounds like snake oil.

I've heard of people liking those coiled cables specifically for the capacitive value, but for this cable to be variable, it's basically a cable with a tone knob, right?

 

[Artie]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

I've heard of people liking those coiled cables specifically for the capacitive value, but for this cable to be variable, it's basically a cable with a tone knob, right?

Exactly. But with a 100pf cap rather than a xxxuf cap. Buy a decent George L cable and be done with it.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

I wouldn't do it like that.

I would be a capacitance meter, try every cable you can get your hands on and then measure how much capacitance the ones you like have, and how much the ones you don't like. Keep in mind that you might not like it if there is too little capacitance since that can shift the frequency of the resonance peak so high that the sound becomes brittle or annoying.

Very short guitar cables are a good way to see what minimal capacitance is like. I wouldn't spend major dollars on long low-capacitance cables unless you notice a real improvement from a very short cable.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Yeah, looks like a buffer with a tone knob.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Wow. I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but this really sounds like snake oil.



Ummm . . . guitars generally have a tone control. Works the same way.

Yes but I can only add it with the tone knob not really take it away. Plus they have a money back guarantee for returns. I've read the reviews and what people say about low cap cables but I need to experience them for myself. Also i'm not one to shy away from the high frequencies or clarity.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Yeah, looks like a buffer with a tone knob.

Nope not a buffer but they do come to the same end results almost.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

I wouldn't do it like that.

I would be a capacitance meter, try every cable you can get your hands on and then measure how much capacitance the ones you like have, and how much the ones you don't like. Keep in mind that you might not like it if there is too little capacitance since that can shift the frequency of the resonance peak so high that the sound becomes brittle or annoying.

Very short guitar cables are a good way to see what minimal capacitance is like. I wouldn't spend major dollars on long low-capacitance cables unless you notice a real improvement from a very short cable.

That would mean spending more than what I wanted to trying different cables but is still a good idea. But with this cable from how it's described it can give you the capacitance of those cables and in between to almost none. I need to hear for myself in real time what it sounds like and will I like it or not.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

I'm interested to hear what you think.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Snake oil... go talk to an engineer. The difference is a tone knob turn away... want more highs and more options from the tone knob? Set it at 5 and get your sound that way... then you have more highs and darker tones at your fingertips. Not saying quality cables don't last longer or are a better deal in the long run... but don't expect much more in terms of tone.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Snake oil... go talk to an engineer. The difference is a tone knob turn away... want more highs and more options from the tone knob? Set it at 5 and get your sound that way... then you have more highs and darker tones at your fingertips. Not saying quality cables don't last longer or are a better deal in the long run... but don't expect much more in terms of tone.

It's not that simple as keeping the tone knob at 5 and adjust but i've done that before and in certain situations it works. The knob can vary the amount of capacitance coming from the guitar but with a (regular) cable the capacitance isn't variable and your stuck with it. Not that that's a bad thing but I interested in seeing and hearing the sounds I can get with changing the amount of capacitance in the signal chain before the pedals and after and just straight into the amp.

 

[SHOOTOUT!]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

Neutrik make a plug with built in capacitances (to add to a low cap cable therefore):

http://www.neutrik.com/en/audio/plugs-and-jacks/timbreplug/np2rx-timbre

List of bulk cable capacitances here:

http://www.shootoutguitarcables.com/guitar-cables-explained/capacitance-chart.html

It's difficult to compensate for the tonal change after the fact of a cable because:

a) You can't put back what has been taken away with the capacitance low pass filtering effect, and if you try you end up with noise.

b) There is a peak frequency which would need an equivalent take down, and replacement with another at a different frequency i.e.would requires a parametric eq. directly after the cable.

Important to remember also though that the peak frequency etc. are pickup dependent.

So being able to dial in your capacitance is pretty handy, and at least you'll realise exactly why cables do sound different, and how things change between pickups etc.

Happy tone hunting!

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

It's not that simple as keeping the tone knob at 5 and adjust but i've done that before and in certain situations it works. The knob can vary the amount of capacitance coming from the guitar but with a (regular) cable the capacitance isn't variable and your stuck with it. Not that that's a bad thing but I interested in seeing and hearing the sounds I can get with changing the amount of capacitance in the signal chain before the pedals and after and just straight into the amp.

You could add a tone control between the output jack tip and the output lug on your volume control or switch. It will do exactly the same thing. Just use a cable with no significant capacitance (very short ones will work - you basically want the capacitance reading to be a low amount of picofarads - keep in mind the meter's margin of error).

It still sounds like snake oil to me, and a buffered output already does the job. What the buffer does is lower the output impedance, reducing the effect that capacitance in cables would have on higher impedance signals, such as an non-buffered outputs. Also, the capacitance usually only affects really long cables, or coiled cables (the wire length is greater than straight cables of the same "advertised cable length", due to the wire being compressed in a coil), as the cable capacitance will only affect frequencies out of the human hearing range. As the cables get longer, and more capacitance is present, the problem of signal degradation arises.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

I can get why some would be skeptical but it's not snake oil in the least. I usually run long cables (20' being the most usually) and can hear the difference between the different lengths. Sure a buffer can work but I don't own any buffered pedals at the moment to test the difference between how each method affects the signal chain.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

The cable capacitance is not a filter on its own.

What happens is that the capacitance of the cable is added to the capacitance of the passive pickup. The passive pickup with inductance, capacitance and resistance is a low pass filter (2nd order with resonance peak). The cutoff frequency of the passive pickup's LPF is determined by the electrical values like in any 2nd order LPF, so adding to its capacitance lowers the cutoff frequency (with the resonance peak).

That is why a too low capacitance cable isn't good. The natural, unloaded resonance peak of your pickup might be too high to have full effect and it is moved into a better position by a typical cable.

That is also why changing impedance (e.g. via a preamp) instantly takes the cable out of the picture (except for noise).

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

I can get why some would be skeptical but it's not snake oil in the least. I usually run long cables (20' being the most usually) and can hear the difference between the different lengths. Sure a buffer can work but I don't own any buffered pedals at the moment to test the difference between how each method affects the signal chain.

You can build a buffer for under $5 with minimal soldering skills.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Bout to buy some low capacitance guitar cable

I have the components but where could I get the board from?